"Windows could not start" after merging partitions

After using TI to create an image of my HD on an external HD, I was trying to use Disk Director to partition my drive. I disabled System Recovery on all drives in Windows XP (didn't think I'd need it w/ an image of my entire system). Before re-sizing my C: drive so I could separate the OS and programs from my data, I used "Merge" for my D: (former recovery drive) with C: Everything went well, and the system rebooted and came up with:

"Windows could not start because of a computer disk hardware configuration problem. Could not read from the selected boot disk. Check boot path and disk hardware. Please check the Windows documentation about hardware disk configuration and your hardware reference manuals for add'l information."

I don't have a Windows start disk since Xp came preloaded. I used the startup CD I made when using True Image and restored the image of my system from the external drive. Message says that the operation was successful, but then I get the same message as above when it tries to boot up. Help!

Think I've got a BartPE CD from the IT folks in my office. I'm not at home w/ my computer now, but what will I need to do/change if I can get to the C:\?
When I used the Recovery Disk I made with Acronis TI to get into the recovery mode, I was able to successfully restore the images I had saved to my external HD. I restored both the entire C: drive and the other drive showing was the MBR. Both said they were successful, then I get the error message above as Windows is attempting to boot.

I think that what Colin was going to suggest was that you check boot.ini to be sure that it refers to the correct disk number and partition number. If you have only one hard disk and Windows is on the first partition (the most common configuration) then boot.ini should look like this:

Start Disk Director from your recovery CD and choose "Manual" mode. Click on the C partition (the one containing your Windows XP installation) and choose "Explore" from the sidebar on the left. Right-click on the file "boot.ini" in the list and choose "Edit" to view and/or edit the contents of the file. See the figure below: